1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to fuel tanks and cleaning of fuel tanks. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved system for cleaning a fuel tank of a vessel, such as a ship, and the method of undertaking the cleaning process by using a series of cleaning vessels in the system.
2. General Background:
The present inventor has obtained two patents in this field which cover, generally, a method of cleaning contaminated fuel in a vessel's fuel tank, or in a storage tank. U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,401, granted on Sept. 20, 1988, entitled "Method of Reducing Contaminants in a Fuel Tank" disclosed a system for undertaking the above process, with claims addressing the method of filtering fuel contained in a tank by suctioning fuel from the tank, circulating the fuel through a filter, removing the contaminants out of the filtrate, and returning the fuel to the fuel tank through an inlet so that the fuel remaining is stirred up for further removal. The second patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,732, a divisional of the '401 patent, claimed the vessel for separating the solid contaminants and free water from contaminate fuel, through the use of a tank containing baffles positioned so that the free water and contaminants which settled from the fuel could be drained off from the vessel, and discharged, while the remaining fuel underwent the filtration process.
This particular application addresses and discloses improvements in the patented system, and provides a more improved system, which is novel in the current state of the art. Other pertinent art known by the applicant will be disclosed in the prior art statement filed in the case.